Montero, Mintek collaborate to optimize hydrometallurgical testing

Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd. (CVE:MON) said Thursday that it has come to an agreement to collaborate with Mintek to further develop and optimize the Montero Stage 1 leaching process.

Johannesburg, South Africa-based Mintek is an internationally recognized metallurgical research and testwork facility.

Montero said the efforts will yield an improvement in the economics of the Montero process as well as assisting Mintek’s program of developing its proprietary technology for the refining and separation of rare earth elements.

"By collaborating on Mintek’s program of developing new and innovative process routes for separating Rare Earth Elements, Montero expects to increase its options to ultimately adopt the refining strategy that extracts maximum value from its REE project," Montero president and CEO Dr. Tony Harwood said.

Mintek will continue Montero's bulk leach test program at a pilot plant scale to verify and optimize the leaching process already developed by Mintek and Montero for the Wigu Hill Rare Earth Element (REE) project.

In return, Montero will provide Mintek with a bulk sample from the Wigu Hill Deposit to be used by Mintek as part of Mintek’s program to develop its independent, proprietary refining technology for producing individually-separated REE products.

Effectively Mintek will be conducting two parallel testwork programs – the first specific to the Wigu Hill Deposit and using conventional, non-proprietary refining technology and the second being Mintek’s proprietary process in the early stages of development.

"With Mintek’s proven track record of success in the development of new technologies for the refining of metals, we expect that this development will allow Montero to continue on our strategy to become a low cost Rare Earth producer," Montero's Harwood added.

Mintek will compare the two technologies as part of the program and, if Mintek's proprietary technology offers benefits to Montero, the parties will investigate ways in which Montero might access the Mintek technology.

Through this collaboration, Montero said it expects to get early insight into alternative, innovative refining technologies.

Montero's Wigu Hill project is a light rare earth element deposit and a large carbonite complex with bastnaesite mineralization located in Tanzania. It covers a 142 square kilometre area and grab samples have yielded results as high as 27.57% total rare earth oxides.

The asset is considered a "look-a-like" to Molycorp's (NYSE:MCP) Mountain Pass project in the U.S. as the REEs at the deposit are hosted in the mineral bastnaesite, found in carbonatite dikes.

REEs are critical in the development of emerging green technologies and high-tech applications, from electric and hybrid vehicles and wind and hydro power turbines, to LCD screens, MRI and X-ray machines, mobile devices and other computing equipment.

Montero also has uranium assets in Tanzania and Quebec, and phosphate assets in South Africa.

Century Global Commodities Corp. and Sandy Chim, president and chief executive officer, have purchased of a total of 1,834,000 ordinary shares in the capital of the company from Champion Iron Mines Ltd, according to a corporate statement on Thursday

Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd. is a mineral exploration and development company engaged in its flagship Rare Earth Elements (REE) Project Wigu Hill in Tanzania and has phosphate assets in South Africa and uranium assets in Tanzania and Quebec, Canada....

Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd. is a mineral exploration and development company engaged in its flagship Rare Earth Elements (REE) Project Wigu Hill in Tanzania and has phosphate assets in South Africa and uranium assets in Tanzania and Quebec, Canada. Montero remains focussed on the development of our flagship Wigu Hill Rare Earth Element Project in Tanzania, which is a high-grade, undeveloped Light Rare Earth Element deposit. The Company’s current focus is on acheiving early production of fine rare earth chemicals and metals from Wigu Hill. Montero has a fast-track strategy to advance a portion of the Wigu Hill deposit to the mining and production stage in the short-term while further defining a much larger deposit. Montero recently produced samples of saleable Rare Earth products, proving an effective process route, and signed a MoU with Star Earth Minerals. With China's dominance over supply and control over export quotas, it is becoming imperative that the rest of the world develops new rare earth resources to meet the increasing demand from “green” technology.

Montero’s growth strategy is to develop the Wigu Hill Rare Earth Element project and to bring this to account by eventual rare earth production and cash flow. Montero plans to operate in an environmentally and socially responsible manner, adding value to all stakeholders. Montero has a highly experienced Board and Management team that has built and operated mines and refineries before which brings significant credibility to our strategy of becoming a rare earth producer. Montero trades on the TSX.V under symbol MON.